Fiance by chance
by lilkawa
Summary: In order to get out of an unwanted arranged marriage Gwen hires a guy to pretend to be her fiance...
1. Chapter 1

_Merlin_ doesn't belong to me.

fiance by chance

Gwen looked at her friend in shock; "You did what?"

"I advertised for a husband for you," Morgana told her, "Alright, I asked – sort of hired a guy to pretend to be your fiancé."

"Please, don't tell me you used the papers," Gwen said, "You know how obsessed my family is with newspapers."

"Nope," Morgana replied. "Trust me; no one will ever know where you found this guy."

"So tell me about him," Gwen urged her friend.

"And spoil the surprise," Morgana said, "no way. You'll meet him at 5:00pm. The parents are arriving at 7; 00 pm, right? You'll have two hours to get to know him better. Trust me you'll like this guy."

Gwen nodded although she was a bit apprehensive about the plan.

000

Arthur walked from the plane to the car that was waiting on the tarmac for him.

"Welcome back, Mr. Pendragon," the chauffeur said.

"Thank you, Timmons."

The drive to the house was made in silence. At the house Arthur found eleven messages from his father, all saying the same thing. He was expected back in Camelot this weekend for his engagement party and thereafter the wedding.

Almost twenty years ago, when Arthur was born; his father, Uther the King of Camelot and the King of Drina, a neighboring kingdom had made an alliance. The King of Drina had had a baby girl and she was betrothed to Arthur.

The wedding was to take place this weekend.

When Arthur was old enough, he'd begged his father to call it off. Uther had refused determined that the two kingdoms of Drina and Camelot be joined by a bond stronger than friendship. Arthur and the Princess of Drina would be wed.

A year ago, Arthur and his best friend Merlin had left Camelot. Uther had allowed his son to leave provided he returned in time for the wedding. Knowing that threats of disinheritance wouldn't work on his son, Uther had threatened to have Merlin imprisoned if they didn't. Arthur's plan had been to find himself another girl, in England to wed but he'd been too busy to find one – everyone he'd met was just not right.

Two weeks ago, Merlin had come up with a plan. He would convince a girl to pretend to be Arthur's fiancée for a while and somehow convince Uther to break the prior engagement.

000

Arthur walked around the house looking for his friend but Merlin was nowhere to be found. Instead he found a note stuck to his door.

_Meet me at 3 Cherry Lane at 5:00pm, have found the perfect girl. Don't be late._

000

Gwen looked at the clock for the tenth time, it was way past 6:00pm, where was the guy Morgana had sent. Gwen had tried her friend's phone a number of times but had failed to get her. Her parents were on the way over, she was out of time. I should never have come up with this ridiculous plan, she told herself.

The doorbell rang.

Finally, Gwen told herself. She hoped that his lateness wasn't a reflection on his character.

She opened the door and there stood one of the best looking men she'd ever seen in his life. At least, Morgana had chosen well in the looks department, she thought to herself.

She smiled at him. Arthur smiled back, thinking that for once Merlin had chosen well. This girl was beautiful.

"I'm Guinevere," she told him, opening to door to let him in.

"Arthur."

"Did Morgana explain everything to you?" she asked him.

"Morgana?" he asked her, obviously confused.

Seeing his confusion, Gwen smiled, Morgana had probably wanted her to explain the situation. "Basically what I need is a -."

"Hang on;" he interrupted her, "what you need? I thought Merlin explained everything to you. What I need is - ."

"Merlin?" Gwen asked him. "I don't know who that is, but we don't have time. As you may have realized you're late. My parents will be here in less than an hour."

"Parents?"

Gwen looked at him, it was a good thing he was so good-looking otherwise his slowness although endearing was a bit annoying. She didn't need this today.

"I think I'm probably in the wrong p -." Arthur began. Gwen took the hand he was waving around in hers and looked him straight in the eye.

"Arthur, let me explain," she said. "My parents are on their way and I told them that they'll be meeting my fiancé today. They want me to marry some guy back home, some guy I've never even met so I made up a fiancé, I told them that I fell in love and they want to meet the guy, tonight." She smiled at him, "will you help me?"

"Funny," Arthur said, "I'm kind of in the same situation myself."

"Okay," Gwen replied, not really listening to what he was saying, "now we need stories, when and where we met, and the like."

"Do you like reading? Arthur asked, at her nod, he said, "how about a bookstore, we were there browsing through the shelves …"

000

Gwen opened the door to her parents, smiling widely.

"This place is so small," her father, Thomas said, "how can you live here?"

"It's enough," Gwen replied. "How was the journey?"

"Long," her mother, Gina, replied, "we hope you're going to come to your senses and return home with us and get married."

"Where is the young man we've heard absolutely nothing about?" Thomas asked, after looking around the room.

"In the kitchen," Gwen replied.

"A man who cooks," Gina said, "I think I like him already."

They made to their way to the kitchen.

"Mother, Father, I want you to meet Arthur, my fiancé," Gwen said to them. "Arthur, my parents."

Thomas and Gina looked at themselves and smiled widely.

"Arthur, Gwen, you don't know how happy this makes us," Thomas said, shaking Arthur's hand warmly. Gina hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

"We thought that we would never see this," Gina said, "Ygraine said you had absolutely refused to even consider it."

'What are you talking about?" Gwen asked her parents.

"To think you were pulling a fast one on us all along," Gina continued, "saying that you would never marry the Prince of Camelot not even on pain of death, and now you're engaged."

"I can't wait to tell Uther the good news," Thomas said. "I assume you haven't told him yet, have you?"

Gwen looked at Arthur in shock; this was the Prince Arthur she was betrothed to. Arthur was having similar thoughts; he couldn't believe that this was Guinevere the Princess of Drina.

"Tom, our baby's getting married," Gina said, "our baby's getting married." Gwen's parents smiled at each other.

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	2. Chapter 2

Gwen's parents were so excited that Gwen was engaged to Arthur that they didn't notice that the supposedly engaged couple weren't as happy as they should have been. Tom had had Gwen put away the food that she had prepared and insisted on them going to _Raven House_, the royal residence of the Kingdom of Drina in London, where proper celebrations would be held.

"We'll have a small family party," Tom said, they were in the car headed for the royal residence, "and then leave tomorrow to prepare for the huge engagement celebrations that are going to take place in Camelot. You don't know how happy this has made me, dear Gwennie."

At the house, Gwen went off with her mother to discuss wedding dresses and the like – Gina had been appalled to discover that Gwen had done no shopping at all, and that she had no thoughts about what she was going to wear – while Arthur was led to family sitting room to wait until proper arrangements for the impromptu engagement party had been finalized.

000

Gwen's phone rang. It was Morgana.

"Finally," Gwen said, "what happened to you?"

"I'm so sorry," Morgana said, "but you'll never believe what happened to me. I met Alan, you remember him, anyway he…"

"_You'll never believe what is happening to_ _me_," Gwen interrupted her, only to be interrupted by Morgana, "I'm sorry about the guy; can you imagine he called me about ten minutes ago saying that he couldn't make it? So, of course I got concerned. What did your parents say about his absence?"

"I'm at _Raven House_," Gwen told her.

"What?" Morgana, "why did they take you home? Surely an absentee fiancé didn't warrant such a reaction."

"A guy showed up at my door and I thought he was the one you sent," Gwen was speaking furiously into the phone, "so I let him in, asked him to play along…you'll never guess who the guy turned out to be."

"Please, not some sort of psycho serial killer," Morgana said.

"Worse," Gwen replied, "it turned out to be Arthur Pendragon."

"What?" Morgana was shouting. "It must be fate. Arthur Pendragon turning up at the flat on the night your parents come over to meet your fiancé."

"It's not funny," Gwen told her friend, Morgana was laughing so hard, "get yourself here at once. This is entirely your fault."

000

Arthur called Merlin. "Why did you send me to 303 Cherry Tree Lane, Merlin, was it some kind of joke?"

"I didn't send you to 303 Cherry Tree Lane, I asked you to come to 3 Cherry Lane, and I'm still wondering why you haven't shown up."

"What?" Arthur couldn't believe he had gone to the wrong address. He was going to get engaged to the very person he'd been running from because he'd gone to the wrong house.

"So are you coming or what?" Merlin asked him. "The girl is getting tired of waiting and she has two very good looking friends."

"I'm at _Raven House_," Arthur said.

"What are you doing at the Drina Royal residence?" Merlin asked, and then, "I'm on my way."

"Thank you."

000

The door opened and a young man came in. "I'm Elyan," he said, holding out his hand to Arthur, "Gwen's brother."

"Arthur Pendragon."

"My sister would like to talk to you," Elyan said, "she asked me to take you to her."

Elyan led Arthur out of the room through a series of corridors to a small room at the back of the house where Gwen was waiting.

"Thank you, Elyan," Gwen told her brother.

"You have about five minutes 'til they start wondering where you've disappeared to," Elyan told them, "I suggest you talk very quickly."

"So, now what?" Gwen asked Arthur. "How do we get out of this?"

"We could ask them to postpone," Arthur suggested and Gwen shook her head, she'd tried that, many times, Tom and Gina had refused point blank. Arthur also remembered the numerous times he'd tried to get Uther to postpone this marriage thing but Uther had refused, and even Ygraine hadn't backed her son on this.

"I'm open to any and all suggestions," Arthur said. "To think all this would have been avoided if only we'd introduced ourselves properly to each other earlier this evening."

"I think all this would have been avoided if both of you hadn't been too pigheaded and had actually met before this time. It's not like it was forbidden or something," Elyan said, "or if you'd looked at even one of the pictures of Arthur Mother tried to get you to look at, Gwen."

"Thank you, Elyan," Gwen said sarcastically.

"Seriously, there's no other way out of this," Elyan continued, "unless one of you drops dead, like tonight."

"Does he really have to be here?" Arthur asked Gwen, pointing at Elyan.

"It's hard to believe," Gwen replied, "but he's usually not as useless as this."

"Hey," Elyan said, hurt, "I'm in the room _and_ I'm your big brother. I've been through this as well, remember."

"I know," Gwen said, "but as I recall you didn't try to get out of your arranged marriage."

"Not at this late stage, no," Elyan told them, "but I had tried to run away from home several times and even told Father that I didn't mind being disinherited, all to no avail. Anyway I married Elena and I must say that I don't regret it at all, in fact I can't imagine not being married to her; I love her."

"So what are you saying?" Arthur asked, "That we go through with this in the hope that in future we - ."

The door was thrown open and Tom entered the room.

"You needed some time alone?" he asked laughing, "to be young and in love." He looked at his son, "I should have guessed that you would be here as well. Guinevere, your mother is looking for you, and Morgana has arrived as well."

As Arthur and Gwen went their separate ways, they were lost in thought. Arthur was wondering if he could actually do it, marry a person that his parents had chosen for him? Looking at Gwen, she wasn't a bad choice; she was beautiful, well educated and smart but could he really be happy with someone knowing that she had been chosen for him? Gwen was having similar thoughts, could she really be happy with the choice their parents had made for them at birth?

Arthur went back to the sitting room to find Merlin there waiting for him.

"I'm sure I've told you hundreds of times that your poor sense of direction and general carelessness would lead you into serious trouble one day," Merlin told Arthur, laughing, "and now here we are."

"It's not funny," Arthur said, "not funny at all. And I do not have a poor sense of direction."

"I beg to differ."

Arthur's phone rang; he was surprised that it had taken Uther this long to contact him. He listened to his father congratulate him on coming to his senses and doing the right thing. How proud he was of him, how this decision showed his readiness to rule the people of Camelot with justice and fairness, etc, Arthur wasn't really listening; he was seeing his freedom slip away.

"Look on the bright side," Merlin told Arthur, after Arthur got off the phone – looking utterly unhappy, "you're not married yet, a lot can happen in three days. Trust me."

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	3. Chapter 3

None of them, least of all Merlin, knew how prophetic his words would turn out to be.

000

Cenred entered the room, kicking things around and then turned to glare at Morgause who was walking behind him.

"You promised me that this would never happen," he told her. He was so angry, he felt like wringing her neck. He loved her with all his heart, she was the most important person in his life – the only person in his life – but at this moment he would have cheerfully strangled her.

Morgause shrugged, apparently unconcerned, "an engagement means nothing, especially these days. It's not like they're married or even really engaged yet. Relax, brother, we have time."

Cenred threw the glass he was drinking from, into the fireplace, "you said they would NEVER, ever, even consider marriage."

"That's what my sources in both kingdoms said," Morgause told him, "I guess they were wrong." They were going to pay severely for this mistake, Morgause thought to herself, smiling.

Cenred sat down and looked at his sister – wanting to know how this situation was going to be rectified.

Cenred and Morgause were the children of Gorlois, Uther's brother. When Uther and Gorlois were in their twenties, Gorlois had had men kidnap his younger brother because the saw that their father preferred Uther to him – which hadn't be hard to do given Gorlois' manners; he was coarse and greedy. The plot had been discovered and Uther rescued before the men carried out their plan to kill him. Gorlois had been disinherited and banished from Camelot. He had moved to England where he married an English woman and had two children, Cenred and Morgause.

The children of Gorlois still wanted to regain the throne of Camelot and they had been biding their time until such an opportunity. Luckily for Cenred, Uther had only one child and if something happened to Arthur then Cenred was next in line – and he intended for something to happen to Arthur – before he got himself an heir.

"So what's the plan?" Cenred asked Morgause, of the two she was the better strategist.

"We stick to the original plan," she replied, smiling. "Take Arthur out of the picture."

000

Gwen woke up in the morning feeling very tired; yesterday had been a very long day and they were leaving for Drina this afternoon. Tom and Gina had important meeting in the morning but as soon as that was over, they were going home.

Jacqueline, Gina's designer arrived at the house – at seven o'clock in the morning – with some new designs that would work very well with Gwen's figure, and more importantly that were almost finished, so Gwen and Morgana got fitted, for the wedding gown and other clothes. Three hours later, Jacqueline and her army of assistants left the house; she would bring the dresses to Camelot in time for the wedding.

000

Arthur and Merlin were leaving England that afternoon as well; the pilot had already called to inform them that they were set to leave for Camelot at midday sharp. Neither of them was talking about the events of the previous day.

000

"This is the important thing we absolutely had to do this morning?" Arthur asked his friend, Merlin nodded. They were standing in a bookstore.

"This book isn't there in Camelot," Merlin replied, "in fact it only came out into stores today. I _had_ to get it. Besides, I don't see why you're complaining; you also picked up some things as well." The shopping basket had more items for Arthur than for Merlin. They joined the queue to pay for their items.

"Fancy running into you here," Morgana said; she and Gwen in the line adjacent to theirs.

After paying for their purchases the four of them walked out into the street. Merlin offered the girls a lift back to _Raven House_; they'd taken a taxi to the shop. Arthur's driver had been ordered not to let Arthur out of his sight and he'd insisted on driving them, and he was waiting for them in the parking area. "It will give us a chance to get to know each other even better," Merlin said, at their looks he added, "it'll save you taxi fare, besides _Raven House _is on our way." There was no arguing with that and they walked together to the car.

"What are they doing here?" the driver asked, when the four of them got to the car.

"Why?" Arthur frowned at him. Eric had been acting weird lately.

"It's just that I was told to ensure that you got to the airport on time," the driver said. "This may delay us."

"Delay us?" Merlin asked, "We're just dropping them off, not having lunch." The driver was clearly unhappy but they set off. They sat in the car, each of them lost in their own thoughts; the driver took a turn, he clearly wasn't headed in the direction of _Raven House_, and said, "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Arthur asked him.

"Believe me I really had no choice," the driver said. He pressed a button and the divider between the front and back of the car began to come up and as it slid slowly, the back of the car was filled with a gas. Merlin and Arthur tried to get the doors to open but failed and instead passed out.

000

"Why have you brought all of them here?" Morgause asked the driver. "I specifically asked you to bring me Arthur and him only."

"They came… I couldn't…"the driver said.

"Get rid of them." Morgause said.

The driver looked at Morgause, hoping that she didn't mean that he should kill them, he was many things but he wasn't a murderer. Morgause had been on her way back to the house but now she turned and looked at him, "On the other hand," she said, "get rid of all of them."

"What?"

"Don't worry," Morgause said at his horrified look, "I just need you to take them to this address," she handed him a paper, "and make the calls. Remember; say only what I told you to say." 'This is going much better than I hoped,' Morgause thought to herself. Having Guinevere and the two friends as well would help to sell the elopement story better. She loved plans that worked.

000

The driver drove to a flat where three men came in and took Arthur, Merlin, Morgana and Gwen out of the car. He called _Raven House_ and left the message he'd been asked to and called Arthur's pilot as well and told him what Morgause had asked him to say. Now, all that he had to do was disappear to a place where Uther would never, ever to able to find him; luckily he had no family to worry about.

000

Arthur woke up slowly wondering where he was, he could hear voices talking in the background.

"Let's just throw them into the water and get it over and done with," one said. "No," another said, "she wants proof that they're dead. I suggest we shoot them first, take pictures and then throw them into the water." He pulled out two guns and handed one to the other guy.

"Whatever you're going to do," a third voice said, "just do it and let's get out of here. I'm hungry."

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	4. Chapter 4

Elyan listened to the head of security in shock; "Gwen said what?"

"The Princess and the Lady Morgana will be travelling back to Camelot with Prince Arthur," Tony replied.

"Did you speak to the Princess yourself?" Elyan asked.

"No," Tony said, "she left a message."

"I see," Elyan nodded and left the room. He didn't see at all, and he couldn't believe Gwen would have gone with Arthur without telling him. He decided to try her phone but it rang off the hook.

Something was seriously wrong.

0000

Eric looked at the phones; one of them kept ringing off the hook. He stopped driving and decided to take out the SIM cards. Morgause had told him to throw them into the river but Eric figured he could make some money out of them; there was no need to waste valuable resources.

0000

"I say we make a run for it," Morgana whispered. The four of them had woken up and were listening to the men argue about how to kill them.

"How do you suggest we open this door without being heard?" Merlin asked.

"We cause a distraction," Gwen suggested, "and then we make a run for it."

"You're sure you can outrun those thugs?" Arthur asked, looking at Gwen.

"Of course I'm sure," Gwen replied, angry that Arthur seemed to think that _she _would be the one to slow them down, "I may not seem very fit to you but I'll have you know I run at least 2 miles a day and I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do."

"I didn't mean to offend you," Arthur replied, "I was just concerned about… forget it."

Merlin and Morgana were looking at their friends in silence; Guinevere and Arthur were frowning at each other.

"So," Arthur said, breaking off eye contact with Gwen, "we need a distraction."

Gwen and Morgana smiled at each other and Morgana began to scream, it an irritating, ear piercing sound. Arthur pulled the door open and he and Merlin crept out of the van.

"What's that?" the men asked each other, when they heard the scream.

"Check the van," one replied. One man went to the van and found Morgana sitting by herself in the van. "The others have escaped. Find them," he told his friends, as he cautiously approached the screaming girl.

Morgana watched him and when he reached out his hand, she pulled him towards her and elbowed him in the face. He grabbed at her but Morgana was too quick for him, she broke and his nose and ran out of the van.

The other two men run after Arthur and Gwen; Merlin had gone back to the van and was helping Morgana drag the man out of the van.

Arthur stood facing his adversary; the man had a gun in his hand. The man smiled at Arthur as if to say, you can't outrun bullets, but you're welcome to try. Arthur lunged for the man and tore the gun away from him using his left hand, with his right hand he hit the man over his shoulder and crooked his elbow around his neck. Using strength that he didn't know he possessed, Arthur yanked the man forward, hurtling them both towards a tree and hit the man's head on the trunk of the tree, the man passed out.

Gwen jumped onto her assailant's back. The big man laughed as he turned round and round but Gwen held on tight and using one hand poked a finger into his eye. The man stumbled; Gwen jumped off his back and kicked him hard in the stomach, he writhed on the ground in pain.

"I told you I could take care of myself," Gwen told Arthur, he was looking at her in surprise, a wide smile on his face.

"That you did," he replied, laughing, and they walked off to rejoin their friends.

They dragged all the men into the van and bound them; the men had refused to tell them who had hired them. They set off in the van but were only able to go for a few miles before the van run out of fuel.

"Now what?" Merlin asked.

"We walk," Gwen said, "we find a town, a petrol station, make a call and we're home free. Surely somebody must be looking for us."

Morgana (pointing out that her shoes wouldn't be able to walk) and Merlin offered to stay with the van and the three suspects while Arthur and Gwen walked to find the town.

0000

Elyan was able to track Gwen's phone and found Eric in no time, he had checked into a four-star hotel for a few days. When Eric was questioned he gave up Morgause and Cenred at once. The police went to their house but it was empty, but they had obviously left in a hurry. The police put out an alert for them.

0000

"You handled yourself very well back there," Arthur said. They had been walking in silence for about fifteen minutes.

"I can take care of myself," Gwen told him.

"I can see that," Arthur replied smiling.

"So is this how you treat all your dates?" Gwen couldn't believe she was asking him that.

"Dates?"

"Not dates," Gwen replied, she hadn't meant to use that word. "I meant all the uhm…girls who agree to take a ride with you."

"Of course," Arthur replied, "being kidnapped and almost getting killed is standard fare on a date with me."

"And you wonder why you've failed to find a wife," Gwen quipped, "Even a pretend one."

"I got you, didn't I?" he asked her in an amused voice. Gwen decided not to reply to that and instead said, "This place is really beautiful, it's peaceful and quiet."

He nodded and said wistfully, "It reminds me of home."

"How long has it been since you were at home?" Gwen asked him.

"About six months," he replied, "I went back for my mother's birthday celebrations. I can't believe how much I miss it."

"I miss Drina as well," Gwen told him. "It's funny but I've never been to Camelot."

"Me neither," Arthur said, "I've never been to Drina, I mean."

"We were both trying to avoid the whole marriage thing I guess," Gwen told him. "But now you should come."

"I intend to," Arthur replied, "and you'll come to Camelot and I'll take you round personally, it's a very beautiful place, and of course you would be treated as a queen."

Gwen wanted to argue at his tone and his words but let it go, she fully intended to visit Camelot and see for herself all the things she'd heard so much about. Apparently Camelot was a paradise on earth, if the stories were to be believed.

"Maybe marriage wouldn't be such a bad idea, after all," Arthur said, half joking. After spending time with Guinevere, he was beginning to think that maybe their parents hadn't made a mistake, she was really great, and someone he could love.

"Don't tell me you're beginning to waver," Gwen said.

"I was joking," Arthur mumbled quickly, and then added, "but I'm also trying to pay you a compliment. Any man would be lucky to marry you."

"Why thank you," Gwen replied, "you're not too bad yourself."

They soon found a farmhouse where the woman of the house invited them for tea and allowed them the use of the telephone.

0000

Three days later, Morgause and Cenred were captured at the train station as they were trying to leave the UK. Uther and Ygraine had flown to England to be with their son and the wedding had been postponed until the Gorlois threat was taken care of.

Investigations were launched and the staff in the two kingdoms who were on the payroll of Morgause and Cenred, arrested. Eric had been very useful in providing this information, in hopes of getting his sentence reduced.

Uther looked at his niece and nephew in disgust. He couldn't believe that they would willingly have killed their cousin and three innocent people over a throne that would never be theirs. Gorlois and his family had been banished and there was no way that Cenred could ever ascend to the throne of Camelot however much he tried – that law was irrevocable.

When Morgause and Cenred had seen their uncle they couldn't help but gloat over their almost triumph. They readily admitted their guilt to that and other crimes – including killing their parents and governesses – while laughing, their lawyer said that they were obviously quite insane and a psychiatrist was brought in. After a session with them, the psychiatrist agreed that they really were insane. Cenred and Morgause were taken off to a mental institution for treatment. They would not be released for at least twenty five years.

0000

"You must be very pleased," Elyan told Gwen. They had just arrived back in Drina and were entering the palace.

"Of course I'm pleased," Gwen replied, faking a smile.

"I was right," Elyan continued.

"Right? About what?" Gwen asked her brother, pretending not know what he was talking about.

"I told you that the only way that the engagement could be broken off was if you dropped dead, and you almost did which is why you're no longer engaged."

Gwen nodded.

After the whole unfortunate kidnapping, Uther and Tom had agreed to call off the engagement. Guinevere and Arthur were allowed to choose their own spouses.

Elyan was watching his sister, she seemed sad; it had been about ten days since they had been kidnapped and Guinevere and Arthur had become friends, spending a lot of time together.

"Look on the bright side," he said, trying to comfort his sister, "you may not have gained a husband from this whole fiasco but you got a friend. Arthur Pendragon is a good man."

Gwen tried to smile but couldn't. She was thinking to herself how amazing it was that getting what you thought you wanted didn't always make you happy.

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. (I Hope It Makes Sense)  
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	5. Chapter 5

Martina Florentine stormed into the room startling Gwen, Morgana and Merlin who were sitting there conversing quietly.

Gwen and Morgana were visiting Camelot for the weekend, something they did regularly. Sometimes Elyan and Elena joined them when they could spare the time. Arthur and Merlin were regular visitors to Drina as well; the six of them having become firm friends.

Martina was hissing and her lovely face was marred by an ugly scowl. Her beautiful blue silk dress was torn in several places and it had nestles, black jack and mud stuck on it; she had a ladder in her tights and one of her shoes seemed to be missing a sole.

Merlin couldn't help himself; he burst into barely concealed laughter earning him a glare from Martina. She narrowed her eyes at all three of them; "this is all your fault," she spat at them. None of them said a word; they just stared at her, trying to hold back their laughter.

Martina picked up her jacket and as she walked to the door she turned on Gwen, "especially you," she told her. "Arthur dumped you already. Get that into your head. He doesn't want to marry you, so you can stop your pitiful little visits to Camelot now. He doesn't even like you; he only tolerates your presence because of your parents. The sooner you realize that the better it will be for you." She stormed out of the room leaving the occupants speechless. They could hear her shouting for someone to have her car brought to the front door.

0000

Arthur entered the room a few minutes later.

"What did you do to poor Tina?" Merlin asked him laughing.

"We took a little walk around the fields," Arthur replied smiling, remembering how Martina had fallen not once but twice, "I was showing her the delights of Camelot."

"You're so cruel," Morgana told him, "the poor girl wasn't even dressed for walking. Her dress and shoes are completely ruined."

"I'm sorry," Arthur said, his tone clearly showing that he was anything but, "do you think it will work, though?"

"Oh, I don't know," Gwen replied, "I just wish you had kept me out of it."

"As if you can be kept out of it," Merlin said.

"He's right you know," Morgana said, "you were betrothed to Arthur for years. You know that Martina will never forgive you for that."

Arthur was silent, at first he'd brought up Gwen simply to annoy Martina but as he had continued to talk about her, he'd realized that he was talking about Gwen because he couldn't help himself; just even thinking about her brought a smile to his face, as for talking about her and being with her, there was nothing like it. It was a pity that Gwen seemed to think of him only as a friend, a good friend but still just a friend nonetheless.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said, coming out of his reverie, "but you did promise to help me get rid of Martina."

"That I did," Gwen replied, "I just didn't know that being abused would be part of the bargain."

"I seem to recall you practically begging me to pretend to be your fiancé so that you could get out of an unwanted engagement," Arthur told her, grinning widely at her, "so the way I see it you still owe me, besides you can handle Martina."

"Of course I can," Gwen replied, "I wasn't the one who hopped onto a plane because you needed my help to get rid of a girl."

**Sometime ago**

Guinevere had been sitting in her office, when Morgana came rushing in, a smile on her face. "You'll never guess who's here to see you," she'd said. Gwen hadn't time to guess because Arthur walked right in. She wasn't really surprised to see him, since her return home over a month ago; Arthur had been over to Drina twice.

She smiled at him and bade him sit down.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he'd said. Gwen had shaken her head, he wasn't and even if he'd been she wouldn't have said so, she was really glad to see him. They talked a lot on the phone and emailed but seeing him face to face was really good.

Now that Arthur was in Drina he didn't know what to say. It had seemed like a good idea when he'd hopped on the plane an hour ago but now he wasn't too sure. Morgana left the room and Arthur looked at Gwen. It was now or never.

"Guinevere," he began and Gwen looked up, she'd been frowning at a painting on the wall behind him.

"Yes?"

What was he thinking? He was crazy. He'd left in the middle of an important meeting and hopped onto a plane to see a woman. He really was certifiable.

"I wanted to ask you something," he said.

"Yes?" Gwen was now looking at him squarely in the face.

"Well, I-" Arthur started, swallowed this had been easier when he was alone, then cleared his throat. "Well, I was wondering...well, if you're not busy this weekend...if you are, you know, it's no big deal, but..."

"Yes?" prompted Gwen.

"Do you want to come over to Camelot for the weekend?" Arthur finished in a rush of words.

"Sure, that would be nice," Gwen smiled at him.

"Great," Arthur smiled back, "so I'll pick up at Friday afternoon."

"Great."

0000

He'd booked a table, on the rooftop of one of the best hotels in Camelot and that was their first stop. "I love this restaurant, and this way we'll not be interrupted," he told her as they headed there.

"It's just as well," Gwen told him, "I'm not dressed for a fancy restaurant, and here we'll be safe from the press."

"You look fine to me," Arthur said, actually she looked really great. She was dressed in flowing cotton dress with a floral print; it had spaghetti straps, earlier she'd had a scarf on but she'd put it in her bag. Arthur's eyes wandered to the curve of her neck and imagined how it would feel to kiss her there, the soft spot right behind her delicate earlobe. He imagined kissing her neck, her throat, her chin, and her soft, sweet, warm lips—he realized that Gwen had spoken to him, "huh?" he said.

"What were you thinking about?" Gwen asked him.

"The Hydro Power dam," Arthur said the first thing that came to his mind, "remember I told you about it."

"Oh," Gwen said, "I was saying that things between you and Martina Florentine seem to be getting serious."

"What?" Arthur couldn't believe it. "Who told you that?" he asked.

"The newspapers, every time I pick one up these days, there's a picture of you two lovebirds attending some function or other."

"You're a fine one to talk," Arthur said, "every time _I_ pick up a news magazine I find a picture of you and a different man."

"It's different," Gwen told him, "I'm not serious about any single one of them, hence the different partners each time. You on the other hand have had Martina Florentine as your escort for all the social events you attended these past two months."

"Are you keeping tabs on me?" Arthur asked her, he certainly was keeping tabs on her.

"Of course not," Gwen denied immediately. She wasn't interested in Arthur like that, he was a good friend in fact he was fast becoming her best friend. She couldn't believe that she'd just known him for only two months, it seemed like they'd known each other forever.

"Actually, Guinevere, I need your help."

**Now**

"Now that you've cleared that up," Merlin broke in. "We have to leave. We're expected at 4.00 pm, remember?" He practically pushed Arthur out of the room.

Gwen and Morgana followed slowly behind.

0000

**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm going to ask Guinevere to marry me this weekend," Arthur told Merlin. Merlin had been flipping through a newspaper, now he stood up and said, "then you'll be glad to know that I had the Pendragon amethyst engagement ring refitted to Gwen's size." He pulled out a ring box and showed it to Arthur.

Arthur looked at his friend as if to say, I don't think I was that obvious. Merlin laughed at the look on Arthur's face.

"Everyone knows that you love Guinevere and that you are going to marry her," Merlin said. "In fact there are some who are betting on how soon the wedding will take place."

"Who?"

"I cannot tell you," Merlin replied. "You know how I am about keeping my word."

"You're just saying that to annoy me. How could you be so certain that I was going to ask Guinevere to marry me now?"

"Arthur, you had the entire south wing of the palace redecorated because Gwen suggested that it should look like that. You had half the rose garden dug up to plant gardenias and tulips because Gwen said that the garden should have those flowers. You call her first thing every morning; in addition to the other gazillion times you call her during the day. You talk about her all the time."

"I do not," Arthur denied, although he knew everything that Merlin had said was true.

"And," Merlin continued as though Arthur hadn't spoken. "You're always sneaking off to Drina to see her when she's not visiting Camelot. Oh, let me not forget, I need to get rid of Martina, who should I ask? Gwen, of course. I need to write the perfect speech, let me ask Gwen. I need to buy a new racing horse, 'Gwen, what do you think?' The hospital needs refurbishing, guess who shows up in Camelot. I need to… "

"Shut up Merlin."

"The only consolation is that Gwen is as crazy about you as you are about her," Merlin was on a roll. "From the things that Morgana has told me and what I've seen when you're together, you're both goners. If you ask me…"

"No one's asking you Merlin," Arthur interrupted him.

0000

"It looks like our plan worked," Uther told Tom.

"My plan you mean," Tom replied, "I seem to recall coming up with it, and also telling you then that it would work."

"You always did like taking _all _the credit," Uther replied. Tom and Uther had been friends for as long as they could remember, having met when they were very young.

"You wanted Arthur and Gwen to marry even after the kidnapping," Tom reminded his friend, "I told you that if we released them from that 'forced' engagement, they would eventually get there on their own."

Uther smiled at his friend, "so you did, Tom, so you did."

"But they are stubborn, aren't they? It's taken them months to get here, for a while I was worried that they would never see sense."

"But tomorrow is the formal engagement party," Uther said. "We have done well Tom. We really should congratulate ourselves."

"To us." They raised their glasses and drank from them.

0000

Guinevere walked out of her room pulling on an old well-worn robe and a pair of old boots. She went through the kitchen heading for the small door that led outside.

"But Princess," Mary, one of five people who were in the kitchen said, "You can't be going out now. It's cold and you're not dressed." Mary had been with the family since before Guinevere was born and she could speak to her bluntly.

"I'll be fine," Gwen replied, "I'm just going for a little walk."

"But you should stay in bed, we're about to bring up the breakfast and…" Mary protested; but Gwen had already stepped outside the room.

Gwen walked out in the garden and slowly made her way to the little spring that ran through the garden. As she approached the wooden bridge, she saw someone walking from the other side.

It was Arthur.

Gwen broke into a smile, she'd been hoping that she'd run into him this morning, and then said, "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I should be asking you the same thing."

"I asked first," Gwen told him.

"Walking," he replied, "join me?"

Gwen took his arm and they walked together slowly through the trees. The sun was creeping slowly over the scenery and they stood hand-in-hand to watch it. Gwen sighed and said, "It's very beautiful, isn't it?" and then she added softly, "I'm going to miss it."

"You do know that the sun also rises in Camelot, don't you?" Arthur teased her. "This exact same sun and at about the same time; but if it is your wish, I will do everything in my power to ensure that we can take all of this with us."

Gwen was silent, looking around her. Arthur slowly disentangled their hands and took her in her arms; Gwen looked at him, a pensive look on her face.

"Are you having second thoughts?" Arthur asked her.

"No, of course not," Gwen replied, softly, breaking into a gentle smile.

"Good," he replied kissing her cheek, "but if you are, I can only wait for another three hours. Not more." Gwen hugged him fiercely and stood in each other's embrace for a while.

Exactly a year after their first meeting, Arthur and Guinevere were getting married to the joy of their parents and friends. The wedding was taking place in Drina.

The sun was now over the horizon, and Gwen said reluctantly, "I guess we better go back before they send out guards to look for us."

"Too late," a voice said. Gwen and Arthur turned and saw Elyan smiling at them. "You do realize that it's considered bad luck to see each other before the wedding?"

Elyan took Gwen's hand and they walked back to the palace. Gina was horrified when she heard that Gwen had been out walking with Arthur. "Gwen, dear, how could you?" she cried, "moreover looking like something the cat dragged in, whatever will he think of you?"

0000

"I've never seen your father this happy," Gwen told Arthur, they were in each other's arms swaying slowly to the music. Uther and Tom were standing on the sidelines watching the couple dance; they both had huge smiles on their faces.

"He's nowhere near as happy as I am," Arthur replied. "How I told you how much I love you?"

"Not in the last five minutes."

0000xxThe Endxx0000

Special thanks to all but especially ladyleslie, Kimm Possible, poyntersally, BagginsPotterPevensie, , Funny Bonez, acklesaddict, charlie1912,joc2787, Guardian Izz, lil leti, Red Eyed Newborn, Kohimoana, Kitty O, PoisoningPigeonsinthePark, ursa major II, Tereshe, larasmith, QTFics, ABarbieStory julygurl, ellabellamj, July, Misery-loathes-Company, Babybee61, BelleGK, Browny2, divineone, Janjelicab, Owl Watcher, , GabiiixD, wisa, WhoNewbie, regenbogen, momo9momo, Rosie99, prettywhitty and Steffi Hoffman. I hope I haven't left anyone out, for reading, reviewing and adding to favourites and alerts. I am so grateful.


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